Accelerating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Moving so as to gain speed progressively ; causing something else to increase speed or rate of motion
2. Undergoing a rise in velocity over time ; making another object or process go faster
3. Experiencing a growth in rate of movement ; inducing quicker movement or faster progress in something

Etymology: The verb "accelerate" comes from Latin "accelerare," built from "ad," meaning "to," and "celer," meaning "quick" or "swift." The "celer" root also gave English "celerity," a word for swiftness that is now rare. Latin "accelerare" meant to hasten or speed something along, and the English verb arrived in the 1520s, carrying that same sense of making something quicker. Some etymologists suspect it was instead formed backward from "acceleration," the noun, which would make the verb the younger word of the pair; the evidence is not conclusive. The "-ing" ending on "accelerating" is simply the ordinary English suffix that turns a verb into a continuous form, so the word inherits its whole meaning from the root. That root is also why "accelerator," the pedal that makes a car go faster, sounds so closely related: both come from the same Latin idea of quickening.

Synonyms: speeding, quickening, hastening, increasing, expediting

Antonyms: decelerating, slowing, diminishing, reducing, stalling